Clint Dempsey claims he would have stayed at Fulham had the club given him the recognition he felt he deserved.

Dempsey returns to Craven Cottage on Saturday after an acrimonious summer ended with him joining Tottenham hours before the transfer window closed on August 31.

The 29-year-old United States international missed pre-season with his former club and a breakdown in relations meant he was not included in any of their early fixtures.

The Texan admitted he moved to Spurs to make progress in his career but hinted he might have remained in west London had events taken a different course.

“If you always felt valued and appreciated enough, I don’t think you’d ever leave but it came to a point where I didn’t feel valued and appreciated,” said Dempsey. “Not by the fans but by other situations. That’s just the way things went.

“The situation is difficult because things go on behind the scenes that the fans don’t really know about. The fans were great to me, the chairman [Mohamed Fayed] was great to me but it got the point where I wanted to keep going and try to further my career.

“I thank them for the five-and-a-half years I had there, which were some of the best experiences I’ve had, and I’m grateful to the chairman for taking a chance on me. Any time I go back, there will always be good memories.”

Dempsey could be given hostile treatment from the home crowd following his move across London but he added: “How you’re received, you’re received. It’s unfortunate how things happened but I look forward to going back.”

Dempsey’s will not be the only reunion. Mousa Dembele also left Fulham for Spurs in August, while Jan Vertonghen will cross swords with Fulham chief and former Tottenham boss Martin Jol, with whom he worked at Ajax from 2009 until 2011.

Dempsey, Dembele and Vertonghen all started last night’s match against Liverpool as Spurs secured their second successive League win, which lifted them to fifth in the table.

Vertonghen has started well in England and is relishing meeting his old boss. “He is a good motivator,” said the defender. “He can always motivate teams for the biggest games and even the smaller ones. I liked working with him and he gave me a lot of confidence.